Man cleared at rape trial

Defendant maintained that woman offered him sex

A MAN who maintained that a woman approached him and wanted to sleep with him before they had sex has been acquitted of rape.

Taimane Sega fought the charges in the Cairns District Court and, after a four-day trial, the jury on Tuesday found him not guilty of all counts.

The court previously heard that Mr Sega, 32, was living in Tully in January 2019 when he met the woman after she left a nightclub.

In a recorded police interview played to the jury last week, Mr Sega said the woman came up to him after leaving the nightclub and offered sex.

The pair went to his unit and after he had a smoke outside, Mr Sega went back inside and found her half naked. He said the complainant removed her own clothes and once he lay next to her, she began touching him.

The banana farm worker said she did not refuse sex and that she gave him a hickey.

Witnesses who walked with the pair to the units testified that they saw Mr Sega and the complainant holding hands and kissing as they walked. The witnesses said they also saw and heard what they believed was the pair having sex

In her evidence, the complainant told Mr Sega to stop because she had a boyfriend.

However, during the trial, there was conflicting evidence about who her boyfriend was.

The court also heard that a man identified as potentially her boyfriend denied being so.

Admitted DNA evidence showed the pair having sex three times, which left consent as the major factor in dispute.

In his closing statement on Monday, defence barrister James Benjamin said the complainant’s boyfriend was “mysterious” and that she had an “attack of regret” after having sex with the defendant.

Mr Benjmain said the complainant’s evidence had numerous inconsistencies, labelling it “convoluted and not convincing”.

The jury deliberated about one hour.

Following the verdict, Mr Sega, who was helped by an interpreter during the trial, was seen crying and wiping away tears. for